Foundation garment with ancillary reinforcing webs



31, 1957 A. M. LOBBENBERG 3,349,773

FOUNDATION GARMENT WITH ANCILLARY REINFORCING WEBS Filed June 50, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR .ANNE M LOBBENBERG Oct. 31, 1967 A. M. LOBBENBERG 3,

FOUNDATION GARMENT WITH ANCILLARY REINFORCING WEBS Filed Jun so, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTDR L OBBENBERG ANNE M.

United States Patent 3,349,773 FOUNDATION GARMENT WITH ANCILLA-RY REINFORCING WEBS Anne M. Lobbenherg, Shrewsbury, England, assignor to Corsets Silhouette Limited, London, England Filed June 30, 1965, Ser. No. 468,445 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 4, 1965, 4,977/ 65 4 Claims. (Cl. 128539) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foundation garment for control of the female figure having specially located reinforcing webs for flattening the thighs and supporting the buttocks of the wearer in preferred forms of which soft textured stripes of material contact the skin.

Summa y A foundation garment comprising a girdle having a main body of stretch material including a vertical seam at the centre of the front of the garment, the said main body being reinforced by at least one insert of preferably non-stretch fabric to cover an area over the abdomen of the wearer and by at least one pair of rearwardly and downwardly sloped webs of stretch material extending from at least the side edges of the insert to the bottom hem of the garment.

In preferred forms of the garment the stretch material webs extend from the front central seam of the main body.

In order to obtain better initial shaping of the garment it is preferred to construct the main body with a central rear seam, so that requisite fullness may be easily given to accommodate figure contours of the wearer. It is also possible, though probably uneconomical, to form the body of the garment from three pieces of stretch material joined by a central vertical front seam and two side seams. Possibly four or more pieces of stretch material with front, side and central back seams, could be used for the construction of the main body of the garment, and even the inclusion of non-extensible panels or gussets would not necessarily detract from the functional usefulness of the garment which stems from the provision of reinforcing webs, embracing at least the upper thigh of the wearer, anchored to a stable front central portion of the garment.

To enhance the comfort of the wearer at least the webs of stretch material may be made from a stretch material such as described in the pending application No. 35,517/64. This material, of a striped appearance, has some stripes which include a yarn having high bulk characteristics. Such stripes extend somewhat from the general surface of one side of the material and have a greater softness than the rest of the general surface and yet retain similar stretch characteristics. Such material may have an elongation of l20%130% in one direction and of 75% to 90% transversely.

If the soft-feeling stripes are on the inside of the stretch material webs and by attaching such webs to the inside of the main body it follows that the most firm contact with the skin of the wearer is made by the slightly protuberant soft stripes.

A garment in which the main body is likewise made from the preferred striped material may have an attractive appearance.

The non-stretch fabric reinforcement of the front of the garment may be of any of several shapes, a preferred shape being like a shield with its upper edge substantially coincident with the upper hem of the main body.

3,349,773 Patented Oct. 31 1 967 The shield-shaped frontal reinforcement may be made up in two parts lying one to either side of the front central seam and may be stitched to the inside or outside of the garment; it is conveniently made of nylon fabric.

The pair of downwardly sloped webs like the shieldshaped reinforcement are conveniently attached to the inside of the garment, though of course they may be attached to the outside, and lines of extensible or inextensible stitching used for this purpose may give added control and a decorative effect.

The reinforcing webs may run from near the top of the front centre seam and their upper edges may include an angle slightly greater than a right angle at this point, while their lower inner edges may include an acute angle at a point a few inches from the bottom of the centre seam.

The effect of the construction of the garment is to provide a non-stretch central area at the front of the garment to give firm support to the abdomen, this area being made up of one or two layers of stretch material and at least one layer of non-stretch fabric. Furthermore shaping is given to the buttocks of the wearer by the downwardly sloped reinforcing webs which meet or almost meet one another at the lower hem at the rear of the garment. However the main central area at the rear of the garment is of one thickness of stretch material only, so that sitting is unimpeded.

The top and bottom hems of the garment are preferably cushioned by soft tape as may be either or both of the vertical seams and such tape may be extensible.

One preferred form of simple girdle embodying the invention will now be described in some detail as an example, with reference to the accompanying drawings though it is to be understood that the principle of the invention is applicable to the waist and hip-encircling portion of corselettes, panty-girdles and the like.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of the girdle FIGURE 2 is a rear view of the girdle FIGURE 3 is a view of the inside of the front FIGURE 4 is a view of the inside of the rear.

The main body of the girdle is made from two lengths 1 and 2 of striped stretch material, of the kind above referred to, which are stitched together solely by vertical seams 3 and 4 at the centre of the front and back.

The stripes of the material run approximately horizontally with the softer (and incidentally more opaque) stripes exposed with the slightly protuberant surface outwards.

The two lengths are cut to provide a small degree of fullness .at the rear or seat area and an upward flair at the lower front hem.

Both upper and lower hems are provided with soft elastic tapes 5 on the inside as is the rear vertical seam with tapes 6 (FIGURES 3 and 4).

Two downwardly and rearwardly sloped webs 7 and 8 of the preferred striped stretch material are stitched to the inside of the garment to extend from the front vertical seam 3 to the lower hem of the main body. The softer stripes of the material of these webs protrude inwardly.

The upper edges of these webs include an angle slightly more than a right angle at the top of the seam and the lower edges include an angle of about 60 at a point about 3 inches above the bottom of that seam (FIG- URE 3).

The lower edges of the webs are separated by about 8 inches at the front of the main body and by 3 to 4 inches at the back of the main body.

Lines of stitching 9 running along the lengths of the webs give a decorative and slightly controlling effect.

A reinforcing insert for the front central area of the main body is substantially shield-shaped and is made up from two pieces of nylon fabric 10 and 11 stitched one on either side of the front vertical seam 3 to cover the upper central parts of the stretch reinforcing webs 7 and 8 on the inside of the garment.

The upper edge of the insert extends to the upper hem of the garment, while the lower extremity of the insert extends to the lower hem.

In wear the abdomen is flattened and supported and the upper thigh is smoothly moulded owing to the absence of side seams. At the same time the buttocks are shaped, Without undue constriction, by the convergent edges of the stretch reinforcing webs at the rear.

Iclaim:

1. In a foundation garment including a body encircling girdle of stretch material and having a front central vertical seam, an abdomen-covering reinforcing panel, and reinforcing means extending from said panel, the improvement in inforcing webs sloped downwardly and outwardly from said panel to the lower hem of the garment to coextend therewith from points adjacent the front vertical seam said reinforcing means comprising rea to points adjacent the center of the rear of the garment.

2. A foundation garment according to claim 1, in which the body-encircling girdle and reinforcing webs are made from striped stretch material some of Whose stripes include a yarn of high bulk characteristics providing stripes of softer texture on one side.

3. A foundation garment according to claim 1 in which at least the sloped webs are made of striped material some of whose stripes include a yarn having high bulk characteristics to give stripes of softer texture on one side.

4. A foundation garment according to claim 3 in which the sloped webs are attached to the inside of the main body with the softer texture stripes facing inwardly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,872,927 2/1959 Erteszek 128-548 2,893,397 7/1959 Plehn 128-548 3,121,428 2/1964 Laguzzi 128-548 3,124,137 4/1964 Bradd 128-580 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A FOUNDATION GARMENT INCLUDING A BODY ENCIRCLING GIRDLE OF STRETCH MATERIAL AND HAVING A FRONT CENTRAL VERTICAL SEAM, AN ABDOMEN-COVERING REINFORCING PANEL, AND REINFORCING MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID PANEL, THE IMPROVEMENT IN SAID REINFORCING MEANS COMPRISING REINFORCING WEBS SLOPED DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY FROM 